Game Maker's Notebook

Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with Senior Narrative Director at  Insomniac Games ,  Jon Paquette . Together they discuss the craft of writing and working together on a writing team; how writers and designers collaborate to craft gameplay systems that fit within a game's narrative; and what it takes to create a dual protagonist story like that of  Marvel's Spider-Man 2 . Watch this episode on our  YouTu...

Austin Wintory  chats with Composer  Lennie Moore . Together they discuss his work on the original  Outcast  and its sequel  Outcast: A New Beginning  which came recently, 25 years later; the ins and outs of the business of composing music for video games including tips for young composers entering the industry; and the profound effect Lennie had on Austin's own career being one of his formative t...

Trent Kusters  chats with multidisciplinary artist  Niklas Åkerblad . Together they discuss his career leading up to his newest title,  Ultros , including his early love of games and illustration; the revolutionary game development scene in Sweden; the profound impact  Hotline Miami  had on his career; the complexity of games as expressive and technical creations of art; and the philosophical and...

Alexa Ray Corriea   chats with  Baldur's Gate 3  Actor  Neil Newbon . Together they discuss his journey as an actor and the challenges he encountered that almost caused him to abandon his craft; finding an avenue for creative expression in video games including acting and directing; how social media warps expectations; and why he decided to start teaching. If you enjoyed this episode, please consi...

The audio version of this interview is entirely in Japanese. To watch the subtitled version, please visit our  YouTube  channel. Shuhei Yoshida  chats with longtime producer of the  TEKKEN  series,  Katsuhiro Harada . Together they discuss Harada-san's journey from working at a Namco arcade to joining the development team for  TEKKEN ; how the series has evolved to target a global audience; the im...

Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with actor  Nadji Jeter . Together they discuss his journey throughout games and traditional film and television; what it's like being Miles Morales for the past decade; what it takes to bring the characters inside  Marvel's Spider-Man 2  to life; and the gravity of being a part of the Marvel universe.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode...

Adam Orth  chats with the Director of  Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty ,  Gabe Amatangelo . Together they discuss Gabe's journey to game development and how he found himself at  CD PROJEKT RED ; how the initial release of Cyberpunk 2077 affected the team and what steps they took to course-correct; the game design and story elements they emphasized to add weight to every decision; and being conscio...

Adam Orth  chats with  Roman Campos-Oriola ,  Eric Baptizat , and  Philippe Ducharme  from  Motive Studio . Together they discuss what led to the decision to remake a beloved classic in  Dead Space ; which elements from the original release they decided to keep and what they thought they could improve; and the intricate balance between the tools, enemies, and environments that create  Dead Space's...

Writer and Narrative Designer   Alexa Ray Corriea   chats with Actor  Samantha Béart . Together they discuss the difficulty they faced attempting to enter the games industry; working together with the cast and crew at  Larian ; the intricacies of romance amidst an impending apocalypse; and the steps the industry still needs to take towards the path of diversity and inclusion. Watch this episode on...

Austin Wintory  chats with award winning composer  Oleksa Lozowchuk . Together they discuss Oleksa's career across games, television, and film including writing music for hit games like Capcom's  Dead Rising  franchise and Sony's  Horizon  franchise; the pitfalls of self-referential compositions; transitioning to a creative director role and working on his own original IP; and what he learned thro...

Adam Orth chats with narrative designer Meghna Jayanth . Together they discuss Meghna's childhood moving around the world and how those experiences shaped her views; the unique aspects of writing for games; the habits, development woes, and finances of live service games; and how Thirsty Suitors takes players through an authentic and emotional journey. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If...

Austin Wintory chats with the composing team collectively known as Ninja Tracks , Kaveh Cohen and Michael Nielsen . Together they discussed how they first met and what drove them to create a composing partnership; how they've worked together across various video games, TV shows, and films; and why they decided to add music publishing to their repertoire. If you enjoyed this episode, please conside...

Trent Kusters  chats with  Alex Ritchie  and  Joel Mason  of  Black Salt Games , developers of the indie hit,  Dredge . Together they discuss their game development journeys; the original ideas around  Dredge and what the early prototypes looked like in terms of art and design; balancing difficulty and consequence in the various zones; and how they introduced an aura of spookiness throughout the g...

Austin Wintory  chats with legendary composer  Grant Kirkhope . Together they discuss his long career composing some of the most iconic music in gaming with titles and series such as  GoldenEye 007 ,  Banjo-Kazooie ,  Donkey Kong ,  World of Warcraft , and  Mario + Rabbids . Watch this episode on our  Youtube  channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a  rating and review ....

Austin Wintory  chats with award-winning Composer  Cris Velasco . Together they discuss his long and illustrious career working on some of the biggest franchises in gaming including  Mass Effect ,  God of War ,  Darksiders , and  Borderlands ; and his love of painting and fine art and the ways his two passions inform each other. Watch this episode on our  Youtube  channel. If you enjoyed this epis...

Shuhei Yoshida  chats with  FINAL FANTASY XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida . Together they discuss his career and what led to him helping relaunch  FINAL FANTASY XIV and eventually producing the newest entry in the series; the key decisions they made with  FINAL FANTASY XVI  with their approach to story and gameplay; how they navigated the pandemic and how it impacted development; and his thoughts on wh...

Trent Kusters chats with Sabotage Studio President and Creative Director, Thierry Boulanger . Together they discuss his journey into games including the early influences that led him towards development; founding Sabotage Studio and the design pillars they follow; key lessons they learned creating The Messenger that they implemented in Sea of Stars ; and playing within the limits of retro games wh...

Austin Wintory chats with Jakob Schmid , Co-Founder, Audio Director, and Music Director of Geometric Interactive . Together they discuss Geometric's debut title Cocoon including the way the audio works together with the gameplay to help players solve the games many puzzles; how his background in programming led to the generative systems that create the Cocoon's music; and his long relationship wit...

Ted Price  chats with his colleague and Senior Creative Director at  Insomniac Games ,  Bryan Intihar . Together they discuss  Marvel's Spider-Man 2  including the important pillars that guided development; motivating teams to go beyond what they believe they're capable of; letting experts be experts; identifying the next generation of leaders; the importance of story and characters; and what he h...

Trent Kusters  chats with  Enrique Cabeza  and  David Erosa  from  The Game Kitchen . Together they discuss their hit series  Blasphemous  including how they designed the game around the art direction; their studio history and transitioning from work for hire projects to their own original IP; having a successful first original game and deciding to scrap it all and start from scratch for the seque...

Trent Kusters  chats with  Ben Gabbard  &  David Adams  of  Remnant  series developer  Gunfire Games . Together they discuss their careers including their early work at Vigil Games on the  Darksiders  series; founding  Gunfire Games  and their early projects with  Oculus ; their early ideas for the  Remnant  series including key pillars; learning to be strategic given development restraints; and h...

Adam Orth  chats with CEO of  Super Evil Megacorp ,  Kristian Segerstrale . Together they discuss Kristian's career and how he found himself on the cusp of several emerging platforms; his journey to becoming the CEO of Super Evil Megacorp and what they're doing to transform the studio; his ideas around best practices and methodologies for remote-first game development; and his efforts around clima...

Chris Charla  chats with Director of Development for  Double Fine Productions ,  Kevin Johnson . Together they discuss his intriguing journey within and outside of the games industry; teaching students the game production process from beginning to end; getting a life changing break at Double Fine; managing multiple projects and teams; and the impact of filming a  documentary  while developing a ga...

Ted Price  chats with  Sam Lake , the Creative Director behind  Remedy's  recent release,  Alan Wake II . Together they discuss crafting the world of the Alan Wake; what they learned from their past releases like  Max Payne  and  Control ; the nuances of writing for video games; the benefits and challenges of using live action film in games; and a brief detour into the world of Scandinavian horror...

Chris Charla  chats with  Naughty Dog's  Head of Culture and Communications,  Arne Meyer . Together they discuss his early life playing games and getting his first break in PR working on the launch of the original  Xbox ; how his own personal work in fanzines led to his idea for grassroot ambassadorships inside the gaming community; his start at  Naughty Dog  around the launch of  Uncharted 2: Amo...